The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for mitigating the effects of contact of aircraft with objects and, in particular, to predicting when an aircraft will come in contact with an object in order to deploy systems to manage the impact.
Aircrafts such as helicopters employ various mitigation devices that reduce the effects of high-speed contact with objects in order to ensure the safety of aircraft crew. Some of these mitigation devices include tightening of crew restraints, deploying landing gear, and deploying internal and external airbags. While devices such as internal airbags can be deployed at a moment of impact, devices such as external airbags must be deployed prior to the moment of impact. An impact prediction system is therefore useful in order to trigger deployment of the external airbags and other pre-contact mitigation devices. In order to prevent false deployment of these mitigation devices, such as during a scenario in which the aircraft is performing a safe landing, the impact prediction system must be highly robust.